Bill O’Brien was unhappy with the officiating in the Texans’ loss to the Raiders

The Oakland Raiders and Houston Texans played a fun Monday Night Football game, the first one south of the border, in Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

Unfortunately for the Texans, it appeared they were on the bad end of a few calls during the game, and each scenario turned out to be costly for Bill O’Brien’s squad by the final whistle.

The first one came on the Texans’ first drive of the game, when Brock Osweiler found DeAndre Hopkins near the sideline as Hopkins avoided Raiders’ defenders and tiptoed along the white paint. Hopkins started running to the end zone, but referees whistled him out at the 36-yard line.

Upon replay, it seemed like Hopkins may have actually been in bounds on the play.

The play was not reviewed because it was blown dead at the whistle, so there was no opportunity for a challenge. Lucky for O’Brien, who threw out his red flag, he was not penalized.

After the game, O’Brien expressed his frustration to reporters. “Was Hopkins out of bounds on that play? No,” O’Brien said. “I’m not going to sit up here and get fined. I’m just a third-year coach in the NFL.”

It seemed like the Texans’ coach was making a case for more extended replay in the NFL when he said, “I think we have to look at all those things. All these cameras, we can’t get that right?”

According to the NFL rules, “If a team initiates a challenge when it is not permitted to do so, it will be charged a timeout.” That was the lone benefit the Texans received on that end.

NFL senior vice president of officiating Dean Blandino offered up an explanation on Twitter after the play.

In the fourth quarter, the score was tied at 20-20. The Texans were driving, and on a third down run by Lamar Miller, he was ruled short of the first down marker. O’Brien decided not to challenge.

However, it really appeared that Miller got just enough to get the first down.

On fourth down, the Texans ran it up the middle, and once again, it appeared they had the first down. The referees ruled against the Texans yet again.

This time, O’Brien challenged the ruling, and somehow it was upheld, despite replay seemingly showing they had made the line to gain.

After the game, O’Brien voiced his displeasure with that call, too, saying, “It looked like it was clear that we had it, so I challenged it. They said we didn’t have it.”

The Texans remain atop the AFC South despite the loss, but it certainly doesn’t help them distance themselves from the Colts and Titans, who are still very much in the race.